Louisiana’s bayous and swamplands are a place of wonder, filled with unique wildlife, lush landscapes, and a rich cultural history. The Louisiana Bayou is home to numerous legends, including the notoriously spooky New Orleans. Deep within these bayous and swamplands are some of the most strange, deserted ghost towns anywhere.
Mystic Bayou, a small town in Southern Louisiana, is known for its harmony between humans and supernatural beings. This town is located in the lower portion of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, near the southeast corner of T-13-S. The Mystic Bayou Field is situated within the Lower Miocene producing trend of Louisiana.
The town is known for its beautiful natural water features and the presence of various shifters and magical beings living openly and in harmony with their human neighbors. Jillian works for a secret organization in Mystic Bayou, while Bessie Senette goes deep into love of home and humanity in Louisiana Pines.
These hidden gems of Louisiana offer historic charm and unique cultural experiences, allowing visitors to discover the lesser-known beauty of the Bayou State. Some of the most famous ghost towns in Louisiana include Bayou Corne, Louisiana (Assumption Parish), and Mystic Bayou, Louisiana.
In conclusion, Louisiana’s bayous and swamplands are a place of wonder and mystery, with many unique stories and towns that offer unique experiences for visitors.
📹 LOUISIANA: Mysterious, Rarely Seen Towns Deep In Vampire Country
Can you swim in the bayou in Louisiana?
It is recommended that those engaging in swimming activities in the Bayou exercise caution due to the potential for injury posed by the presence of debris, foreign objects, and sharp concrete and reinforcing bars in the open water body.
What is a bayou girl like?
A bayou woman is a strong and courageous individual who stays up late at night to ensure the safety of children during floods. They possess resiliency, class, sophistication, and knowledge of others to help them grow during storms. This story was created from OCEANDOTCOMM and supported by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) and produced by Michelle Barboza-Ramirez, Becca Burton, Melissa Cronin, M. B. Humphrey, Gabi Serrato Marks, and Elizabeth Weinberg.
Does anyone live in the bayou?
Bayous are slow-moving waterways, often creeks or swampy sections of rivers or lakes, which have served as human habitats for over a millennium. The cultures of the Choctaw, Cajun, and Creole peoples are inextricably linked with the bayous. Bayous are shallow creeks or swamps located in the southeastern region of the United States, particularly in the state of Louisiana. Bayous can be classified as freshwater, saltwater, or a combination of both, designated as “brackish water.”
What language do they speak in Louisiana bayou?
Cajun French, a distinct culture and dialect, originated in Nova Scotia between 1604 and 1756 and has evolved significantly over the years. It is the only modern North American language and has undergone numerous linguistic changes. The survival of Cajun French can be attributed to the geographic isolation of Acadian settlements, close-knit family structures, and lower socioeconomic status. Factors contributing to its near extinction include Governor Huey P.
Long’s efforts to bridge swamplands and lowlands in the 1930s, and the public school system’s coercion of children to abandon their language and speak only English, leading to a generation of Acadians becoming ashamed of their language and cultural inferiority.
What language do they speak in the bayou?
Cajun English, also known as Cajun Vernacular English, is a dialect of American English derived from Cajuns living in Southern Louisiana. It is significantly influenced by Louisiana French, the historical language of the Cajun people, who are descended from the French-speaking Acadian people. Although French is mostly used by the elderly, Cajun English is experiencing a cultural renaissance. Most speakers today are monolingual anglophones, and Cajun English is distinct from General American English, with features of French origin remaining strong, including intonation, vocabulary, and certain accent features.
Cajun English is spoken throughout Acadiana and is often attributed to descendants of Acadians from Nova Scotia, Canada, who migrated to French-owned Louisiana after the British took control of Nova Scotia and expelled them from their land in 1755. In 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana territory and in 1812, the English language received official sanction as the language of promulgation and preservation of laws.
Despite this change, many Cajuns, who were poorly educated and living in small towns, continued to use French exclusively, leading to isolation and treatment as second-class citizens. In the 1930s, English was the only language taught in schools, and students who spoke French were punished and humiliated. This led to the emergence of Cajun English, a fusion of both languages.
What is the most beautiful bayou in Louisiana?
The Bayou Teche National Byway is a travel corridor in Louisiana, connecting important cultural, historic, natural, recreation, and scenic environments. It runs through the three parishes of St. Martin, Iberia, and St. Mary, with notable towns such as Breaux Bridge, St. Martinville, New Iberia, Charenton, Patterson, and Morgan City. The bayou is part of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, which is designated by Congress as a place where natural, cultural, and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape.
The Bayou Teche Byway tells nationally important stories that celebrate the diverse heritage of the United States. The area has been inhabited by Native American, Acadian, and Spanish descendants, who have survived off the land. The Chitimacha Indians named the area teche, meaning snake, and are internationally known for their beautiful and complicatedly woven cane baskets. Anglo settlers established successful sugar cane plantations and mansions along the bayou’s banks.
As time passed, occupations and trade changed, with oil and gas being introduced and offshore oil rigs becoming places of work. The International Petroleum Museum and Exposition: The Mr. Charlie is the only place where visitors can tour an oil rig and visualize themselves living and working with several dozen other men in a relatively small space on an oil rig located in the Gulf of Mexico. Exhibits and artifacts tell the dangerous but exciting story of the settlers who settled along Bayou Teche to make use of the vast natural resources or to develop industries.
TABASCO, a pioneering aviator, built his racing planes in the quaint community of Patterson, where a museum now memorializes their achievements. Overall, the Bayou Teche Byway serves as a vital travel corridor in Louisiana, showcasing the rich cultural and historical significance of the region.
Is there a bayou in louisiana?
Lafourche Parish, located south of New Orleans, is known for its natural beauty, bayous and coastal wetlands, and Cajun culture. Visitors can enjoy a Swamp Tour or Airboat Ride to witness alligators, a large, scaly creature, and other wildlife. Bayou Des Allemands offers a unique experience with 2 Da Swamp, while Airboat Tours by Arthur Matherne offers a fast-paced ride. The marsh is home to various bird species, including hawks, herons, and bald eagles. Zam’s Bayou Swamp Tours offers a close-up view of turtles, birds, and snakes. The best time to see gators is between February and October, when the water is at its warmest.
Do people still live in the Louisiana bayou?
The United Houma Nation, a native group from southern Louisiana, has the crawfish as its official emblem. The Atakapa-Ishak people live in the “water village” of Grand, where fishing and shrimping are the main economic interests. The country is also home to Cajun and Creole cultures, tracing their ancestors to French-speaking people from Acadia, a region in Canada that includes Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
Who lives in the Louisiana bayou?
Bayou Country is home to Cajun and Creole cultures, with Cajuns tracing their ancestors to French-speaking people from Acadia, a region in Quebec and Canada’s Maritime Provinces. Bayous are slow-moving creeks or swampy sections of rivers or lakes, often found in flat areas where water collects in pools. They are shallow and sometimes heavily wooded, and can be freshwater, saltwater, or a combination of both, known as “brackish water”.
Where in Louisiana was House on the Bayou filmed?
In March 2021, Alex McAulay was announced to write and direct the television horror thriller film A House on the Bayou, the first of eight films developed and produced exclusively for cable network Epix by Blumhouse Television. Lia McHugh joined the cast in April, and Paul Schneider, Angela Sarafyan, Jacob Lofland, Doug Van Liew, and Lauren Richards were cast in April. Principal photography took place from March 22 to April 19, 2021, in New Orleans.
The film was released on November 19, 2021, on digital by Paramount Home Entertainment and on Epix. The partnership between Blumhouse and Epix has led to the development of original films, with the first Blumhouse-Epix thriller set for December 2021. The film and TV projects are currently in production.
What part of Louisiana was Eve’s bayou filmed?
The film Eve’s Bayou, directed by Kasi Lemmons, was shot in 1996 in Covington and Madisonville, Louisiana, using the Otis House at Fairview-Riverside State Park as the Batiste family estate. The film received positive reviews, with Roger Ebert naming it the best film of 1997. Other publications, including CNN, CNN, Empire, Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Observer, The New York Times, Time, Variety, and The Washington Post, also praised the film and its performances.
Rotten Tomatoes has an approval rating of 83 based on 129 reviews, describing it as a striking feature debut for Lemmons, blending terrific performances and Southern mysticism into a meditation on disillusionment and forgiveness.
📹 Mysteries of the Bayou: The Tragic Story of Julia Brown and the Spirits of New Orleans
Explore the mystic bayou, discover Julia Brown’s voodoo legend, and delve into supernatural tales. Listen and uncover the …
Kentucky here. I tell ya: it makes me sad to see how very alike we are. Too many towns with no means to support their people. Too many people forced to move from towns where everyone looks out for each other to cities where no one gives a damn and will treat us like trash if we commit the sin of actually sounding like we come from the places we call home by people who never take the time to go there and see what they’re missing and what they lost by living in a city. It’s heartbreaking. So much lost and thrown away 😢
I actually drove down that highway about ten years ago from Texarkana to Shreveport and had to stop for gas. Pull up to a gas pump at an ole convenience store that still had the rolling numbers instead of the digital numbers. I yelled over to my daughter and told her to check it out. She’d had never seen one and chuckled. ( The land that time has forgotten. )
I stumbled upon this article looking for something else. I’m 56 years old and was born and raised in Northwest Louisiana. As was my daddy and mama and my grandparents before them. We had a Benton address but it was much closer to Plain Dealing. I spent much of my childhood and adult life in or around Plain Dealing. I frequently visited Oil City and Vivian growing up as well. If you think it’s rural now just imagine 40 or 50 years ago. And that’s exactly why we were there and stayed there our entire lives. Bossier City is now rapidly expanding closer and closer to Benton and it really makes me sad because we love the remoteness and simplicity of rural living. I remember being a really small child and riding in the back of my grandpa’s truck to Plain Dealing on the first of every month to do our shopping for food and necessities to last the entire month, or we hoped they would but they rarely did. But when you crossed the river on the Hosston bridge into Plain Dealing I’m not gonna lie it made me super emotional. It brought back so many memories of the times we spent under that bridge on the sandbar having the time of lives. It wasn’t just that it made me so emotional. It was knowing you were about to enter Plain Dealing. I have so many beautiful and painful memories of that little town. My mind was flooded with some of the sweetest childhood memories and some of the most painful ones as well. From fishing on the sandbar, spending nights with my favorite aunt, shopping with my granny, to times when my grandbabies were really small or new born babies.
My husband was stationed at Ft. Polk LA in 1987. Our daughter was born there and we lived there until 1993. There was something different about LA. Some of it was very desolate but very spiritual and mystical as well. Before we moved onto post we lived in DeRidder and there was a older woman that lived next door to us who had lived there all her life. She was a descendant of slaves and she practiced voo doo. It was kind of scary but she was the nicest kindest woman I had ever met. She so many interesting stories to tell!!
The median household income number of $22K/year is much closer to what most Americans experience than what the media/government tells us. The working class of this country have had their incomes and wealth “sucked” out of them by the rentier portion of the capitalist class – those who extract wealth from collecting land rents and financial rents. Fantastic that you include this data in your article.
I was born and raised in Vivian,Louisiana and left in 1982! The town was a thriving town back then in the 1960’s 70’s and very good place to raise a family! I finished high school there and my job with the railroad took me to other places! After my parents passed away I never go back up there! It started going down hill in the 2000’s -2010 when my parents were still living there! When my parents generation passed on,the town wasn’t as good as it used to be! Most of my generation left for better jobs and opportunities!
Everytime Lord Spoda mentions A House Is Returning To Nature it reminds me of the house my grandfather lived in for many years in Eden NC . Every visit I make to that town the old house continues to return to nature more and more . If these old houses could talk and tell their past it would be amazing .
That house for sale in Vivian is part of a package of 9 rental properties. The assessment value of that house in $15,877. 2br, 1 bath 903 sq. ft. I read every True Bood book and even went to New Orleans to meet the author at a book signing. She is cute as a bug and so much fun! Thanks, Joe. Be careful in Cancun. About 30 years ago a friend and I got caught in a civil uprising on the way back to the airport and were held at gunpoint by teens wielding aks! We weren’t held long and made our plane. LOL Just another adventure for 2 old ladies! Keep the articles rolling! 💙
Some of those abandoned oil rigs aren’t really abandoned. After it becomes economically unfeasible to have them pumping, you will often find a local person who will tap them for their last bit of oil. They put a small gasoline powered pump down the hole and let it run and suck up the oil until they fill a barrel. Usually they come by once a day to make sure that the gas pump still has enough gasoline to run. Depending on the price of oil, you can make a decent living doing this.
What was shocking was driving through SW Arkansas, then crossing into Louisiana on my way to Shreveport. The highways got MUCH worse (yeah I know some people won’t believe it) and the number of abandoned buildings, shacks. It just looked like the State had given up on that corner, much the way Arkansas has given up on their Eastern delta region which is overwhelmingly agricultural now with a vanishing population. Same with SE Missouri.
I’m in SE Louisiana and here across the lake from New Orleans we have the opposite problem these towns in this article have. When we moved here from River Ridge (between Harrahan and Kenner) there was only a caution light at the intersection of Highway 190 and Highway 445. There was an old run down gas station, a small diner with a little area for candy bars etc, another small restaurant called Cooter Brown’s (which is still here), a tire shop and a garage. You blinked and you passed it up. Since Katrina ppl been steadily moving up here. Now there’s all kinds of places to eat, a grocery store, a Dollar General, a Walmart DC, and massive amounts of subdivisions. We live close to the Tangipahoa River which now floods so easy. In fact in 2016 it flooded twice, both times where i live a good square sized area was closed, you couldn’t go in or out for about 3 days. My road got almost 5 ft of water the second flood that year. We stayed and even though we are way off the ground we still got a foot and a half of water that night. I miss the days when no one lived here tbh. Too much traffic stresses me out lol
Je suis française et j’apprécie beaucoup de voyager au travers de vos vidéos fort intéressantes. Je m’aperçois, que dans beaucoup d’etats américains, les maisons sont de plus en plus abandonnées notamment à Détroit où les américains ont dû fuirent. Espérons que les prochaines décennies seront meilleures. Bravo pour votre travail. Merci.❤😊
Just a bit of info. When a church shuts down, unless in cases of emergency, natural disaster, etc. Typically, every pastor, priest, deacon or whoever knows the rule is when the church no longer meets the first thing you do is take down the sign. The rule of thumb is, if the sign is still up, the church is still meeting. Of course you can find exceptions for one reason or another. Alot of the catholic churches here in NE Louisiana only meet once a month (or high holidays, etc.) depending on the circut of the available priests. There are more “catholics” than there are priests. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes rather than counties because of the church’s influence in the beginning of the state.
Driving through these small towns is nice on the weekends for a day trip. We did this when I was a child. The only thing is, you have to be careful of your speed. Some of these small towns are speed traps( That’s how they get revenue.) The people are usually friendly and you see a lot of interesting things.
Here’s a few thumbnails of these towns,. What is Oil City LA known for? The town is situated on the banks of Caddo Lake, a massive freshwater reservoir that is popular with anglers and families looking for a weekend getaway. As its name implies, Oil City was a boom town for the oil and gas industries in the early 20th century. Vivian is home to friendly people who simply want to enjoy a leisurely lifestyle. Our mild climate allows us to have many year-round activities. Among the activities are the Louisiana Redbud festival held the 3rd Saturday of March, the Black History Parade held the 3rd weekend in February, and the Annual Christmas Festival held the 1st Saturday of December every year in downtown Vivian. There are also excellent public and private facilities throughout the area for golfing, tennis, swimming, and boating. Hunters and fishermen will find plenty of land and waterways for their outdoor activities. Caddo Lake, Black Bayou, and the Red River are the center points of outdoor activities. Vivian was incorporated in 1898 as people moved from the former Caddo Lake port of Monterey and the surrounding lakes and woodlands to be near the railroad terminal built in the late 1800’s. Through its 121 year history, Vivian has witnessed the booms and busts of the oil business and been a local center for commerce, transportation, education, health care and manufacturing. With Caddo Lake, Black Bayou, and the Red River, and numerous large tracts of forest surrounding the Town, it is no wonder that pre-dawn weekend traffic may be busier than the more typical rush hours in larger areas, especially on opening days of deer and duck season.
Hello! Just started perusal your articles a few days back. Husband and I will watch one or two articles during breakfast. We enjoy your travels and commentaries. What amazes me most is the clarity and steadiness of your articles whether you are driving or walking around! What do you use to film such clear articles? Thank you for your travels so that we can travel vicariously every morning through you. 😊
Just want to say that I’ve been perusal (bingeing?!) several of these drive arounds in rural America and the things I really like is how consistent they are and also how you Don’t make it about yourself. Well done. You did 2 towns where I had lived in the past. Very surprised that the children’s poverty level %ages are so high in some of these back water towns. Chilling.
103 Georgia st is no longer on the market. These areas are so sad. I bet they’re simple friendly people. I grew up in poor neighborhoods and my memories of the people are friendly people. All though I grew up the first ten years of my life in Cedartown Ga. My memories are sweet. I went back to Cedartown and didn’t recognize the place it has built up so much. Areas like these towns in Louisiana send me imagining what they looked like back in the day when the town was new. Another awesome article. Look forward to your next adventure. You guys stay safe. God bless.
Hey guys! Another great article as always! Looked up the house for sale at 301 Georgia Street and it is off the market now as of Sept 17/23 – don’t know why as it doesn’t indicate that it sold. However, it has been on the market several times in the past, starting in 2008. When is was active though, asking price was $30,000. No inside pics but the house was built in 1950 and has 2 bdrms, 1 bath, 848 square feet and lot is 7,013 sq ft. Thanks for another interesting article xoxo
Hi Joe & Nic Thanks again for all the effort you are putting in to those road trips . You have highlighted the good and ever so sad areas of many towns and cities . Detroit was especially a very impressive down town but so depressing on the outskirts . Just wondered Joe, when residents leave these properties and move on, is there any system of recovering monetary value from these properties,if not how do residents afford to buy homes any where else . Thanks again to you both for all the effort,so much to enjoy . F & P Yorkshire GB.
I did some digging, and Carrie Martin closed down back in 2021 with an enrollment of under 200 students. Plain Dealing High school built an elementary wing, so that’s where the Pre-K through Fifth Grade students ended up. Also, during segregation, it was a school for black children and the school was named after black educator Carrie Martin. Anyway, interesting article. I live in Northwest Louisiana, so I found it fascinating, perusal you drive through the same towns I’ve driven through. Throughout the state, you’re going to see these nearly dead towns, especially the ones that had a huge economic boon fifty plus years ago, but now it has nothing. It’s depressing as hell.
I’m from that area. Born and raised there on Cross Bayou, Greenwood La. Live in NH now. Been up and down those very roads. That one stretch of road between Oil City and Vivian (La1) was Caddo Lake. The Parish you were in is Caddo Parish. Named for the Caddo Indians who lived there and had a reservation there where the Lake is now. Reservation sunk and all parished Thanks for the ride down memory lane. 😎
Vampire Country…sounds like a good name for a Goth bluegrass band 🙂 Trivia tidbit: the “oil rigs” have various names including pumpjacks, nodding donkeys, pumping units, horsehead pumps, beam pumps, sucker rod pumps, grasshopper pumps, thirsty birds, and jack pumps. In the oil fields of central California there used to be bunch of painted/decorated pumps that was called the “Iron Zoo”. The R.C Baker Museum in Coalinga (worth a visit) used to sell a set of postcards with all the different oil pump creatures.
BTW – i’m very much enjoying your articles (discovered your website not too long ago, still plowing through it’s previously uploaded contents). Thanks for taking your time on your travels to show how the real, everyday people’s America looks like to someone like me – European, who visited USA once in his life (just NYC, Chicago, Milwaukee plus some smaller towns around those), and probably not gonna get a possibility to have at least a year or two to explore US properly in the future… Keep on doing the good job (hopefully having much fun while at it) and i wish the very best to you and that lovely wife of yours (man, you’re lucky, that Nicole shares your passion to do this specific kind of traveling).
🇬🇧 Also a Brit perusal your interesting tour of out the way places in Louisiana ( incidently my daughter is named Louisiana Charlotte!). We in the UK are in a horrible recession at present & food & house prices are astronomical! But at least our wages, at least mine, just about cope I make £45,000pa & although im a professional in the mental care area, im not as well paid as others in my position get paid in the south, London areas. I live in the far North East of Britain. Our local house prices are around £250,000 on average. I bought my house in the 1980s for £30,000 its now worth £385,000! Rediculous! I feel sad that good people in these places with low crime rates, single parents live in such restricted circumstances. So much land attached to properties, they should grow their own vegetables & fruit. It would save money & eke out a staple diet with more variety. Thank you for this look into another world! We need to be grateful for what we have & remember those less fortunate. Peace & Good Cheer 🇬🇧🙋
first time to visit your website. Amazing how time stands still in some of these places you are touring. My mind goes crazy over articles like this. We have a flood of migrants coming over the border and tons of homeless people all over the country and for such towns like this wouldn’t it be great if they just opened them up like people in the old west in a wagon train that had to create their present and forge a future. How would that work? Find a need and fill it. How would you make a town compelling enough for people to want to move there?
Another amazing article. Seeing all the oil pumps there is a small taste of what we see everyday here in Oklahoma. Especially the town I live in, Cushing, which is labeled the pipeline crossroads of the world having a tank farm for every major oil producer. It wouldn’t be so bad if all the abandoned sites weren’t left behind to become eyesores. Will watch for the next wonderful article. Until then stay safe and God bless. Steve in Oklahoma
Hi Jo and Rick, just watched this and Subscribed. It’s fascinating, seeing real America. I live in Suffolk England, an amazed at how derelict most of America seem to be. Where are the all the people in these little “towns” about the size of the average village in the UK. I would love to visit the places you go to, but they all look like they should have a resident serial killer. Absolutely fascinating viewing. Thanks for sharing.
Joe and Nic, thank you for this article. I enjoy the way you present the facts of the towns that you go through and showing what is the difference on paper (facts) versus what we see and sometimes – I just don’t see it. I have traveled the backroads of America through my adventures and I wish, like Oil City, could be as wonderful as the place(s) that I have lived and folks get to achieve their dreams. Keep up the great work. Tristater Jeff
Check out a small town in South West Arkansas called Foreman. It is about 45 minute from Texarkana. It has population of about 971. I am originally from there myself. Also, there is another town in Arkansas called Murfreesboro it has a population of 1,451. located maybe 2 hours South West from Little Rock. That town has the only diamond mine in the United States. The mine is a state park and is open to the public.
My dad maintained oil rigs in southern Illinois in the 80s and 90s. I have 2 uncles, one in Texas and one in southern Illinois who drilled oil wells. Also a few uncles and aunts and parents who invested in oil wells that my uncles drilled. Love those old rigs! I think they’re also called derricks. Love your website. Thanks
That small looking pump you saw was a distill-ant pump, untreated liquid gas from a gas field. They are located all over Tx and La. In 74 I worked for Waukeshau Pierce in Houston as a field serviceman. I also saw an old smaller engine on the left. You are not too far from Tyler TX where we had one of our shops located. There were oil and gas companies all over the place. I was 50 miles from the nearest place to eat on one job and stuck in a motel with nothing to eat unless I drove that far each evening after work. It was a great job and one I should have kept,. I would be living much better today had I done so.
One of my favorite things on YouTube is couples pursuing a common interest. It makes my heart soar to actually see the participants from time to time. Recently, I saw an episode that featured a Creole restaurant and saw a glimpse of Nic…I’m assuming Nicole…you are so lucky. How about sometime we see you too?
We are considered subtropical in most of the state. I can grow things from Asia, Latin America, even Australia’s subtropic area. So yeah the state is pretty green. The greenery literally grows faster than we can keep up. Lol Ps. Thanks for getting the names right. Being the only French state, we have some hard to figure out and pronounce names.
Just found your website I really like it! I’m not gonna call any names but the real vampire has the initials of DG, they’re in every small town in the US, preying on the poor and the elderly. Everything they sell is is way overpriced and genetically modified and their shelf prices are almost always gonna be different than what’s on your receipt. That needed to be said…
I looked at that 1st house (with cyclone) and wondered if it was for sale or rent, I liked it except it needs more plants!!!! And the rusty oil Rig, I thought that was a little museaum, everyones perspective, considering if you come from dry climate or wet climate…. Nearly every place I lived as an adult was found by driving around and looking for vacant places. Curtains were generally the sign of occupancy, and the walkway. Can they walk up a path to get inside…lol. Love your stuff, glad to see these early programs.
Theyre actually everywhere little do people know. They drive the roads siphoning your energy. You feel like you’re being drained, falling asleep as you drive. It’s a certain feeling. You think that you’re just tired or nodding off at the wheel. But you feel like… A pulsing sensation. Usually theyre right behind you, in a car or a truck, perusal you… Feasting from you…only if they have mercy on you do they relent keeping you from crashing…
I’ve seen quite a few of your vids. I really enjoy how you give information on every area. You take enough time to explore and speak of poverty stricken areas with a non condescending tone. Thats what i like most. I understand there are “bad apples” everywhere in every culture. Its my personal belief that for the most part, its the systems that were put in place to support people ultimately failed. Im from South Carolina which is an “at will” state. Meaning an employer can fire for ANY reason. My point is, based on that example, employees need to be better protected if they want people to go work. Because eventually a person reaches a breaking point and just doesnt care. Education has failed as well. So, im sure for the most part, those that are in poverty has just learned to deal with what they have. Being brought through such hardships, i can relate. Great vids, i appreciate you not being judgmental about anyone.
🇬🇧 I also loved the True Blood Vampire series…! Here in Britain we have our own Vampire town which is Whitby, actually mentioned in the Bram Stoker book of Dracula. Count Dracula landed at Whitby when his ship The Demeter landed in the harbour of the town There is loads of Goths who make Whitby a Mecca for all things Dracula & Vampires, with special weekends for Dracula celebrations. Goths from all over the world can be found at these festivals … Its great fun though Youd think that all the homeless people living on the streets in tents in big cities could be cleaned up & given houses in places where there so many empty & abandoned homes, it seems such a waste. Ok, well ive just subbed to your website because ive enjoyed it ! Peace & Harmony to All 🇬🇧🙋
i grew up and still live near vivian. it has gone downhill in 30 years. the bayou lafourche country club you passed is 1/2 mile where i grew up. its a bar for blacks now. back in the day it was divided between black and whites. its my dads old watering hole. it used to be called tiny’s bar. tiny was a very fat man. the dam you drove over at hosston is where me and my dad used to fish. the area was booming in the 30’s to 80’s. oil. sad to see it going downhill. but i think its better than some place like houston.
…and here I thought vampire country was in Transylvania, home of Dracula’s castle, deep in the mountains of Romania! 😨:hand-orange-covering-eyes: This area looks more like a somewhat swampy version of the Texas hamlets that the swervy gang and Jon creep through! :face-green-smiling: Thank you for that stupid barrel game ad @10:55 – I had fun blowing them all away before they shot me! :face-blue-smiling:Bring on the vampires – they might be hiding out in Vivian!:face-fuchsia-tongue-out: I hear they treat quite a few vampire :face-purple-smiling-fangs:bite victims in that hospital. :body-blue-raised-arms: ….ahh, the Red River flowing with blood on Friday the 13th – we’re getting closer – they walk behind you! :face-orange-raised-eyebrow::face-purple-wide-eyes: Damn, no vampires – I would have been satisfied to see Polk Salad Annie! :face-red-heart-shape: NOTE: Yes, that school in Plain Dealing is now abandoned – all the students are now bussed to the brand-new Bram Stoker Memorial School Complex. :face-blue-star-eyes:
Those numbers equals a lot of single parent households. Being 58 and from Louisiana, I’ve never heard or considered that area to be affiliated with vampirism, usually the areas along the Mississippi, in and around New Orleans. Also odd to see a Bayou Lafourche anything, as that bayou is in the lower, eastern portion of the state. I know I live 500 feet from it.
Many years ago when I worked for a company installing new tanks in the ground and new pumps, one of the old crank pumps that we removed, found it’s way into my shop. I remember those old pumps from when I was just a kid. There are lots of little “out of the way” towns like this one further down south ofLa. I’m from LC, La and my wife and I would go around and find old antiques and bring them back home. The hurricanes have just about taken everything back to the swamps now. Thanks for your vids. 😢😢
This area once THRIVED, even up until a few years ago… now you see what’s become of my home state. These are the homes of hardworking people, doing whatever it takes to survive. It’s a shame that people who have worked hard their entire life have lost everything thanks to years of America last policies.
It’s funny that I lived in both north Louisiana and south Louisiana and we think it should be 2 different states. Totally different mentality. Should be North Louisiana and South Louisiana. Might have something to do with the Bible Belt being more in mid and north Louisiana 🤔 Y’all are awesome and so appreciated❤
I got something spooky to share that happened when i drove through Louisiana. First i drove to Dallas, TX then over to Louisiana on my way to Florida although now i wonder if i I should have just went through AR instead…anyway, i needed gas so i exited the highway somewhere in Louisiana. It was not a big city but there was a convenience store with gas pumps. It’s dark out and no one had cell phones then. While I pump my gas some guy comes from behind the store and starts trying to talk to me. I quickly go inside the store and tell the clerk there is a dude hanging out by the cars which the clerk responded, “My car?” I just shrugged since i did not know which was his and told him again, a man is back there, thought you should know, and then i ran back to my car and gtfo of there. It was a scary moment for sure not knowing what that guy was up to and being only two people at that store besides him and it being out of the way.
Oustanding. Thank you. The opening scenes looked just like I’d imagine the Seven Bridges Road might look like. I can just about grasp the ‘vampire’ reference from HBO series that surface in the UK; I reckom that you have the scope to add a lot more commentary, and your own impressions, with great advantage to the rest of us, who are interested in the USA past and present. To give an example, I bumped into a Chicagoan working in our county town last week, and a simple 10 minute conversation with him – after I had watched your tour of rural Arkansas – taught me so much about the ordinary life of the USA that just isn’t accessible by reading newspaper reports. (Although I spoke recently to an engineer from Wyoming and his accounts suggested that the two gentlemenmen actually lived in diferent countries – which I suspect might actually be true!) Kind regards from Pembrokeshire.
Hello. I watched your article this morning and found it very interesting. I live in West Texas and thought you might like to know all those things you keep calling oil rigs are pump jacks. We have a lot of oil rigs here, but rigs are what you use to drill for the oil. The pump jacks are what pump the oil out of the ground. Anyway, no big deal, but just thought you might like to know. I am in Lubbock, TX and we have a lot of oil in this area of Texas. Thanks for sharing your article. I am doing research on Louisiana, because I am writing a book. I may have to break down and actually take a trip there in the near future to get a feel for things. Have a great day!
The pump jacks are used after the well is drilled to pump the oil out for collection. It’s interesting that they’re of private property. Either they’re owned by the property owner or they got paid a decent amount to allow that on their property. I’m guessing the oil has long since run dry. These people may not have a lot but they have each other and I would all but guarantee they lean heavily on each other. That’s the beautiful thing about small towns and the people that live in them.
On Oil City this road used to be the main road to get to Shreveport from Texarkana or Atlanta. A few years ago they finally finished building Interstate 49 and now we don’t have take that long stretching two lane road all the way there. I live in Texarkana and right after you cross over the Louisiana line there is a wonderful daiquiri shop / truck stop
I have lived in Louisiana my entire life and spent most of it working in law enforcement in Shreveport, Claiborne, Parish and in New Orleans and there are no vampire towns especially in North Louisiana and Shreveport area. Now in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina when I was a Louisiana State Special Officer we saw vampires, ghosts and many supernatural entities. Hell even the snakes seemed worse than usual. I often fish right in the area of Oil City.
I love this website. You are awesome! I live in New Orleans. I see you are doing the median income of a lot of these little towns and it’s extremely low and you might be wondering how they can survive. I believe they are entitled to a lot of snap, Medicaid and low income housing benefits with that low of an income level.
I love Louisiana, such a beautiful state. One day i dream of going there and exploring the same towns and areas. In general, i love perusal you website! My favorite one on YouTube, in europe we have very little places like these. Small almost abandoned towns, while its sad to see how poor and in disrepair some of them are, i dream of one day being able to move to the states to help revive one of these communities 😊 love from Denmark
Wow, what a blast from the past for me. I grew up in Oil City. You didn’t show the main attraction around Oil City being Caddo Lake. I lived out on the lake. You were correct re the school’s situation, there are centrally located “Magnet” type schools that serve most of the smaller towns. I went to High School in Vivian – North Caddo High School. I left after high school and joined the Air Force. I have no family left in either Oil City or Vivian. I do have family in Shreveport…and no they aren’t vampires. 🙂 Thanks for the article!
it would be interesting to see Gaylax Verginia also Independence the interest in those places are Old Time Music i have been an enthussiast for many years.I live in UK and ive found your vidsvery intresting Im 75 now and ive allways wondered about mouving to stateside some of the abandond and empty property actualysays something to me ttfn&ty
When I was a child we went to a place called Vivian all the time! I think we passed through Oil City but I can’t recall. Actually, it was Rodessa! And I see you went to Vivian. It looks almost exactly the same! We went to that Walmart and the Sonic next to it every-time we were there. Strange that nothing changed because that was the early 80’s!
That last town I didnt catch the name of had a distinct air of menace about it, but ut did have a Piggly Wiggly n a Dollar General and a Donut 🍩☕ Shop and an elementary school, though it did look empty. That town was the most poverty looking town, but the little pretty colouref houses in these places are REALLY cute!!! Good article,!!!
The little house at 18.55 was up for $24500…some very cheap property there was another property pull down shack unloved plot but quarter acre for $4000…looking up the area there was some great property for sale..1 more on bailey avenue a place there for just over $15000 prices are crazy wouldn’t get anything like that in the UK…
I was just searching around and came across your article. I really enjoyed it. Sad all the empty store buildings. I live in Zanesville ohio, since the malls came down town are Banks and Law offices. Now the mall is closing most of the stores because people are ordering on line. Thanks for the article it was great.
Somewhere in the comments I’m sure somebody’s told you those oil rigs that you pointed out are called pump jacks and they pump the oil out of the ground. Most of them don’t run continuously like the one you saw those folks yard it may only be run for a couple of days a month to get a few barrels of oil out of the well keeping it flowing for future use. At one time in its heyday there were several thousands of people living in that area working in those oil fields, somewhere I read 25 to 30,000 people oil city in Vivian and the surrounding area long time ago heydays.
Being a nice black woman from New Orleans was very friendly, I need some nice folks but the town didn’t do anything for me so not even a Church there two months after hurricane Katrina . I’m sorry 😔 I couldn’t stay there no longer .No good 🥑 foods cook or no Jazz band to listen to.. Not to many law offices for me to work in. Also I really appreciate you showing this article I can’t believe stayed there 2 mo’s. Wow!!
My maternal grandparents were from Oil City/Trees and Vivian, but moved south to Raceland/Houma in the mid 50’s (: Never heard it called Vampire Country in all my 43 yrs😅🤔 My Pop LOVED to scare us so I’m honestly shocked he never exploited that little tidbit. I have to believe that had he known, he’d have had all of us believing the vampires followed us south or that he was a hunter/slayer in the name a’ Jesus🤓 Edited to add: when we’d visit Vivian as teens we’d hang out at that Sonic… the same cars would just loop the parking lot ALL NIGHT LONG😂😂Def had that teeny tiny town vibe but compared to the places surrounding it, it was poppin😂
Im from a small Town in Louisiana. The house hold income is pretty low, the ones that make decent money work in the oil refineries/ petroleum industry, us small town folk just focus on living our lives, as opposed to chasing the big city money. Its a slower, more chill way of life. Ive lived in big cities, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta.. i hated it honestly. After moving around i developed whole new love for my small town roots, and am slated to move back and get some land in the near future.
We had a smaller Walmart 9 miles from me in New Roads La, the local business owners kept Walmart from building the superstore until finally it went to court. After Walmart purchased the property to build the superstore the local government attempted to cause more trouble and were slapped again by the courts. A good thing because there were no competitive shopping stores and even some large chains that had been gouging people for 25 years or longer all closed when Walmart built the superstore.
Low cost living was always perk of living in Louisiana ive never visited oil town. Thatt the equipment is really cool but it all looks like parts of houma and dulac, dularge. I miss home. I miss simple,poverty was never an issue because we were always satisfied and always happy. No matter where i die in this world my spirit will find its way back to Louisiana.